Delisting

This is a placeholder entry to be expanded at a later date.

According to Irem’s website, Ninja Spirit (Saigo no Nindou: Ninja Spirit [JP]) was delisted by March 30th, 2012 in Japan on the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console. Irem themselves later released this and several other Wii Virtual Console titles on the Wii U eShop in 2015 but only in Japan. The Western dates are unconfirmed but the game was most likely delisted from the Wii Virtual Console in those territories no later than August 7th, 2012. Continue reading for more details.

Irem’s Delisting History – 2011

Through Spring 2011, several factors resulted in Irem canceling two of its major upcoming releases and backing away from the console video game industry. The company changed its focus to the pachinko and slot machine business where it got its start and as a result began delisting most of its digital console titles.

On July 22nd, 2011, import gaming site Andriasang posted a notice that Irem would be delisting many of their digital PlayStation releases on August 11th. This included demos, videos, themes and the following titles:

The Andriasang announcement also confirmed that several of Irem’s “spaces” for PlayStation Home would be shut down on September 1st, 2011. By September 30th, both the TurboGrafx-16 and Sega Master System versions of R-Type were delisted from the Nintendo Wii Virtual Console in North America; in Japan they were delisted by October 18th. The Japan-exclusive Spelunker Black on PlayStation 3 was delisted by December 20th, 2011.

Irem’s Delisting History – 2012

According to Irem’s website, the following titles were delisted in Japan by March 30th, 2012:

No later than August 7th, 2012 the Western releases of all the titles above were delisted in their respective territories except where noted below.

What Remains

As of May 2017, only two R-Type titles remain available digitally worldwide. R-Type Dimensions from Tozai Games is available on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 while the TurboGrafx-16 version of the original R-Type is available on Wii U and 3DS Virtual Consoles from Konami. Tozai has also re-released the original versions of Spelunker and continues developing new titles in the series.

R-Type Tactics (Command) is available to purchase but only on the PlayStation Store in select European countries (EU, DE, FR) where it is published by Rising Star Games. Europe is also the only territory where Mawaskes (Puzzle Guzzle) and GenSan (Hammerin’ Hero) are available digitally. Both titles are now published in the territory by DHM Interactive, though the company seems largely inactive in 2017.

Irem themselves released several delisted titles from the Wii Virtual Console on the Wii U eShop in Japan in 2015. Image Fight, Image Fight II, Legend of Hero Tonma, Vigilante, and Ninja Spirit are all currently available. Several of their digital PachiPara titles are also still available on PlayStation Network for PlayStation 3 and PSP in Japan.